Kelly Pavlik vs Joe Calzaghe: Possible? What Would Happen?

Recently there has been rumors of a “Possible” match up between thesetwo fighters (assumingPavlik beats his June 7th opponent,and Calzaghe gets passed Hopkins) sometime this fall, of course Pavlik will be making slight move up in weight (from 160 to 168), seeing as Calzaghe is a natural Super Middleweight and Pavlik hasn’t fought any higher than 166lbs. This would be the classic Boxer vs Puncher.

In his last outing, Pavlik boxed his way to a decision win over former Middleweight Champion Jermain Taylor, and in his last performance Calzaghe beat the crafty veteran Bernard Hopkins to be the #1 Light Heavyweight World Champion.

So, What would happen if these two ever met?

First and foremost, I am a huge Calzaghe fan, this man is an outstanding boxer with great speed and deceptive power, he is a master of timing and precision, he uses angles combined with a high punch volume to disrupt anything his opponent has to offer, he makes you miss and makes you pay, wildly competitive and simply…Knows how to win. Pavlik, is the old fashion Middleweight, those seen back when it was about two big men trading shots and testing chins. Pavlik is a tall lanky puncher who continuously finds a way to hit the mark, he calmly stalks, and viciously attacks, he has the killer instinct along with the finishing touch. It would be great to witness these two men go head to head. Although Pavlik is regarded as the biggest puncher (and rightfully so) in the Middleweight division, I do not believe his super natural strength will ever be enough to beat a man of Calzaghe’s class.

And here is why.

Calzaghe is special, born to be a fighter, born to be a champion and born to be a winner. Having been trained for his entire professional career by his father Enzo Calzaghe.Let me remind you that Enzo did not have any boxing history whatsoever before taking charge of his sons growth as a prize fighter, he was a jazz musician, who upon entering the field needed to read instructional books to guide himself in the path of a boxing trainer, he’s done pretty damn good job. Throughout his career, JoeCalzaghe has been a force in the Super Middleweight Division, he’s undefeated, and continues to prove himself against the best in the world, constantly being put in the ring with various types of fighting styles, he’s seen it all, and always wins. Pavlik on the other hand is an excellent puncher with decent boxing ability, nothing fancy, he patiently finds his openings and exposes them with great right hand power shots. Pavlik is the type of fighter that can end a fight with one single right hand to the chin, his power is unmatched at Middleweight, he’s also undefeated but has yet to face the quality of opposition of Joe Calzaghe. Pavlik is still young, still hungry and looks to make a name for himself, Calzaghe is no doubt towards the end of his astounding career, but he still shows the determination of a prospect, and always displays skills of a veteran when inside the ring.

Calzaghe loves to fight, he like guys coming at him, and uses his superior hand and foot speed to batter his opponents, just as he did to Jeff Lacy, and previously undefeated Mikkel Kessler. Calaghe always raises the bar, he finds a second, third and even fourth gear to do fight at a high level then his opposition. No on has yet to compete with him in that area, when a man fighting Calzaghe fights his hardest and it does nothing to discourage Calzghe, they find themselves giving up or getting desperate, and that falls right into Calzaghe’s plan, he then turns up the heat and does what he does best, which is to win. If Pavlik were to ever step in the ring with such a force, I think he’ll find himself missing and getting frustrated, I doubt he’ll find Calzaghe’s chin. Pavlik is a good fighter (not great yet), he boxes fairly well, and some how always finds his mark with that huge right hand, but it’s safe to say, that speed is not a part of his arsenal, he’s a thudding puncher with good reach, but it’s his lack of speed that will not allow him to do to Calzaghe what he’s been able to do to lesser opponents. Calzaghe will work the jab all night, set up Pavlik for left hand power shots, I can even see Calzaghe doing enough to KO the big middleweight. I like Pavlik, but he’s not in the same class ass the “Italian Dragon”.

Well, there has been talk of a possible clash of these two champions later this year (2008), Pavlik must win his June 7th bout against Lockett, and Calzaghe may go on to take some sort of a tune up fight, but it’s also possible that he may even go in the direction of making a fight with former pound for pound champion Roy Jones Jr. Whatever the choice will be, I pray for a fight between Pavlik and Calzaghe, it would seem to be the more entertaining fight, but still, Jones/Calzaghe can definitely stir up some heat in the sport as well. We shall wait and see.

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This entry was posted on June 6, 2008 at 3:08 and is filed under Thoughts.
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